


The Moment

by krionachen



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gem Fusion, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 07:55:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21316768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krionachen/pseuds/krionachen
Summary: This story explores the moment Blue and Yellow Diamond learn about the fate of Pink Diamond - the lead-up, the moment that lasts an eternity, and the aftermath.
Relationships: Green Diamond - Relationship
Kudos: 25





	The Moment

**Author's Note:**

> Spoiler alert: do not read this unless you have watched Steven Universe through meeting Blue.
> 
> Content warning: loss and grief.

### Yellow's Outpost

Yellow Diamond leaned back casually on her throne, posture relaxed, gazing out through the faceted glass dome of her command center. A wind rolled on the arid planet outside, blowing red sand and dust that swirled in eddies around the gem implements being constructed nearby. Lifeless. Barren. Devoid. The arid, dead planet hosted no life of its own and was barely suitable for even the lowliest of gems. A few dying volcanic vents and a smattering of meteor collisions would form the basis of Yellow's legions on this planet. She knew they wouldn't have the strength or abilities of gems she had formed back on Homeworld... but they would do.

Besides. She only needed a start. A foundation.

Yellow's gaze drifted up to the moon ascending in the dust-colored sky.

The moon was her true goal.

"Pearl," Yellow drawled lazily. "Give me a status update on the colony." Her voice boomed and echoed in the large chamber.

Pearl snapped to attention. "Yes, my Diamond," she intoned quickly. "The first of the Amethysts have emerged. They are, uh, _stunted_," she spat with a hint of disgust. "They've begun preparing the first of the Kindergartens at these sites." Pearl gestured to several volcanoes on the holographic display that were overlaid with schematics for the planned construction. "The Kindergartens should be operational within the year and producing better quality gems within the next hundred years." Pearl waved her hands and the display moved to other sites on the planets. "The Peridots in these fissures should emerge within fifty years. They too will be, uh, _less than adequate_, my Diamond, surely not worthy of serving someone as illustrious as yourself, but they will be sufficient to complete the mission." Another site; a recent meteor impact. "The Peridots will begin construction on the geo-weapon here as soon as resources and personnel are available." More schematic overlays. "The geo-weapon will be locally sourced and powered with maximum efficiency using the remaining pressure in the planet's dying core. In total, construction will be completed in roughly 300 years." Pearl bowed.

"I don't like it," Yellow stated, her deep voice vibrating off of the dome. Pearl shivered. "Schedule a handful of Jaspers. They'll keep the Amethysts on task and get the job done faster." Yellow pointed at a site marked on the display. "Cancel that Kindergarten. I don't need half-formed gems; I need capable warriors, and I won't get them on this planet. Collect resources from the site instead. Reduce the number of second era Peridots in that fissure and replace them with a Yellow Agate. Amethysts are a waste, here. Don't produce any more than is absolutely necessary to complete the geo-weapon on schedule."

"Yes, my Diamond! At once, my Diamond! This is a most excellent plan, my Diamond!" Pearl frantically entered changes and issued orders through her terminal. "This should reduce the time required to get the geo-weapon online... to roughly 225 years. It's genius, my Diamond!"

"Pearl," Yellow interrupted, her gaze drifting back up to the vibrant planetoid overhead. "Tell me about the moon."

"Yes, my Diamond! The moon is rich in elements and resources the planet lacks, my Diamond. They are more abundant and densely packed than anything we've found in the last half-millennia. Our scans show that we can easily fit twice as many Kindergartens on this moon than on comparable planets we've encountered in the past; perhaps more, with careful planning and oversight. This should, uh, help with the problems we've been experiencing on Homeworld," Pearl finished quickly, wincing as Yellow grimaced. She paused again briefly before continuing. "The moon has become infested with a primitive species of bipeds that have settled nearly a third of the moon's surface."

That drew Yellow's gaze. "_Whaat?!_" she demanded. "There was no mention of this in the last report!"

"Yes, my Diamond!" Pearl responded hastily, raising her hands in a defusing gesture. She pulled up reports and quickly flipped through them. "The bipeds were insignificant during the last status check - truly insignificant! According to protocol, they warranted no Sapphire to review the project. The, uh, bipeds have developed rudimentary spaceflight in the interim. It should be of no concern, my Diamond - no creature could possibly hope to stand up to a warrior and leader as strong and commanding as your Eminence, my Diamond!" Pearl bowed deeply.

"How many of these _bipeds_ inhabit _my_ moon?" Yellow growled.

"A few hundred million," Pearl exclaimed, waving her hands frantically. "No more than a billion! They possess primitive technology that is far surpassed by our own. They pose no real threat. Once the geo-weapon is online, it will cleanse the moon and prepare it for colonization." Sensing where Yellow's attention was going, Pearl quickly continued her report. "Our recent scans show the bipedal infestation has harvested a minimal percentage of the moon's resources. Roughly a quarter of a percent. Given their recent advancements into spaceflight and the new estimated completion time of the geo-weapon, they should use no more than a further tenth of a percent before they can be stopped from ruining the rest of the moon's resources."

After a moment, Yellow relaxed into her throne. "Very well, Pearl. Task two Red Eyes and an Emerald Cruiser to the system. I want them here on a moment's notice if this outpost sends word. Send for a Sapphire as well. I want no more surprises." Yellow stood. "Good work, Pearl. Nearly flawless. This moon will go a long way in aiding Homeworld." Pearl visibly relaxed. "Prepare the Viewing Chamber. I want to see these... _bipeds_."

### Viewing Chamber

Yellow stood in a city plaza, arms crossed, towering two dozen feet above the humanoids bustling below her. Their skin was a dark clay, covered in off-white and ivory linens tied loosely around their waists with cords. Dark hair of varying lengths. Sizes ranging from tiny to comically infantile. Sounds drifted up to Yellow - most likely rudimentary language - but she paid them no mind. They had nothing interesting to say. It still surprised Yellow that chaotic soups of unguided biology could create such crude impersonations of intelligence and sentience. Crude, indeed, but dangerous if not handled with precision and planning. That was her specialty.

The plaza spread out around a central fountain. The sun was overhead, and Yellow's outpost on the arid planet shone brightly with reflected light. The bipeds were moving in a disorganized fashion, stopping frequently, interacting, touching, and sometimes wandering aimlessly. Spaceflight? Honestly? The structures around the plaza and clustered along the retreating streets were stone, imperfect, and worn. Impractical. Inefficient. The traffic and congestion in this area alone was unimaginable. Several aerial vehicles transited the sky above, yet the majority of the bipeds seem caged to the ground. Pearl might be right after all - perhaps there was nothing to be concerned about.

Still. No need to take chances.

Yellow strode through the streets and buildings and the room and projection matched her movement. She ascended the mountainside the city was built into in a few easy steps and surveyed the surroundings. The city appeared to have grown haphazardly - _organically_ \- and little had been done to fix the resulting confusion. Mechanized ground transit actually seemed predominant from this vantage point, but that did little to address the underlying confusion. It made sense, really. None of the organic lifeforms Yellow had encountered showed any indications of advanced planning or foresight, let alone the enlightened restraint and rigid systems needed to thrive as a species. These organics weren't species - they were _plagues_, viruses, destroying what valuable resources their worlds contained for no purpose. It was such an unimaginable waste of potential. The moon needed to be _sterilized_.

"Pearl. Take me to the next largest settlement." In an instant, Yellow was standing in a broad city on a wide plain that nestled up to a calm sea. Life here was just as poorly managed, although the extra space seemed to alleviate some of the issues the bipeds struggled with in the previous locale. Wide streets allowed for sub-optimal but acceptable levels of traffic; structures comprised of combinations of wood and stone were unlikely to withstand a moderate amount of punishment; and worst yet, from what Yellow could tell, an inordinate measure of time and energy was being invested in _decoration_. Several parts of the city appeared to serve no other purpose than aesthetic, and bipeds were spending an exorbitant amount of time doing _nothing_ in them. Useless.

Yellow examined the patterns of the city's design and found nothing concerning. The streets here were just as winding and illogical. She saw no need to bow to such primitive planning techniques and instead strode directly to the shore, passing through holographic projections of buildings and parks and monuments. "I just don't understand what's so fascinating about _water_," Yellow blurted out as she reached the edge of a sandy beach. Several hundred bipeds were milling about, some under lavish and impractical textiles, others in the water itself. "I've yet to meet an organic species that doesn't have a strange attraction to it. They flock to water, use excessive amounts of it, and die when it isn't present. It's an exceedingly simple molecule!" Yellow exclaimed. "Give me deposits of astatine or polonium and I will build you a civilization! Give me water and I'll give you... this." Yellow gestured dismissively at the scene before her.

A moment passed as Pearl waited demurely for Yellow to finish.

"Pearl. Take me to a fortification. The large one on the northern continent." Yellow was standing in what passed as a modest encampment. Military structures dotted the mountainous landscape, adequately exploiting the strategic value of the terrain. Terraced escarpments dictated the course of land movements, and what appeared to be primitive catapults were primed to fling explosives haphazardly into the skies above. Yellow thought back to the war her gems had waged against the silicates only a few dozen years ago. She imagined an army of silicates descending from orbit; hordes of winged craft designed to absorb and deflect bombardment; the carnage as the weapons of the organics were reflected back at them. The fortress would be a smoking ruin in a matter of minutes. Yellow wistfully imagined the mayhem, picturing where she would station the Ruby fusions to harass the silicate soldiers as they ascended the slopes, planning the launch formations of Nephrite pilots to maximize dispersion of the aerial silicate army, and choosing the correct location to place the light cannon array such that it would neutralize the silicate command ship. Yellow missed a worth adversary. She almost yearned for a resurgence of the silicate race.

A small fortification embedded in the ground caught Yellow's eye. She approached, bending down to examine the metal hatch and adjoining building. "Pearl, pull up the schematics for this structure." The building and ground turned transparent, overlaid with blueprints, energy readouts, compositions and degradation rates. She turned the scene and examined it from multiple angles. "Pearl," Yellow started, her voice betraying a hint of admiration. "This is a portable nuclear fusion device. Crude, definitely, but a bit of a nasty surprise if not accounted for." Yellow had to give the bipeds the smallest amount of credit. Somehow a sentient puddle of organic matter had somehow figured out how to harness one of the fundamental forces of the universe. The amount of waste generated in achieving this goal, though, was truly incalculable. "Locate all variations of this weapon and keep them under surveillance. Task the Sapphire with foreseeing their use in a potential conflict, as well as necessary steps to avoid it. There's no point in losing a single gem to an organic."

She looked around, surveying the site once more. She no longer had any concerns about resistance from this moon.

"We're done here, Pearl." A moment later the scene dissolved and Yellow was in the empty Viewing Chamber. She ascended the stairs circling the outer wall of the rounded chamber, reaching the clear glass dome atop her command center in only a few short strides. Pearl hurried in behind her. Yellow sat back down in her throne, leaned back, and relaxed. She decided now was a good time to begin analyzing the future placement of Kindergartens and warp pads. With the actual invasion still in the distant future, it warranted only a minimal amount of her attention. A few strategic decisions now would help guide the early planning stages and she would likely only need to return and make a modicum of corrections before the work could proceed. It was exhausting, being this intelligent.

### A Visit

"Did you ever think talking could be this exhausting, Pearl?" Blue Diamond asked gently. Her words were crisp and precise, enunciated with clarity. Blue leaned on her elbow, chin in her hand, peering over the side of her throne at the diminutive Pearl who piloted the ship.

"Oh," Pearl said softly, clearly shocked out of a deep reverie. "No, my Diamond."

Blue hadn't really expected scintillating conversation. She sighed and looked ahead through the view-port at the stars whizzing by. "Their attention spans are so... short, and flighty. And there so many of them. Why do silicates need so many of their number to make decisions? And yet, here we are, after so many rounds of negotiations, and I don't feel like we've made any progress. They're still so upset over their loses at Vebran, but they don't seem to understand that _I lost gems, too_." Blue clenched her hands briefly, her voice momentarily hard. She relaxed. "We lost gems, Pearl, family that we will never see again. I'm willing to put that behind me to sue for peace, but have they truly moved on? Or are they stalling, using this time to gain an advantage?" Blue sighed again and leaned back in her seat. "Oh, I know what Yellow will say... _We should act now, and seize the advantage before it can be taken from us!_ And White..." She scoffed, thinking of White, but then relaxed as Pink came to mind. She smiled briefly. "Ah, but Pink. She's so young - what would she do? She feels so compassionately about those humans she rules; would she feel the same compassion for the silicates?"

Pearl, not recognizing the rhetorical question, opened and closed her mouth a few times, unable to answer the complicated question.

"Of course she would. She lets her emotions get in the way of her judgment, to a fault. She would see the best in the silicates, and try to celebrate them. She would feel their wild emotions, be swept up by their passion, and never see the betrayal coming." Blue Diamond's eyes grew hard and her voice grew harder. "I will _not_ be betrayed again, Pearl." Pearl bleated out a soft, "No, my Diamond", but Blue wasn't listening. "I will give them one more chance, Pearl, and if they are not honest and forthright with their intentions, they I will personally crush the life out of _every silicate in the galaxy_." Blue's eyes burned with fiery passion, tears streaming down the side of her face. Pearl quivered at the intensity, unable to respond, squeaking quietly in an attempt to form words. "And Earth! If Pink isn't able to end this uprising on Earth promptly, then I will shatter that Rose Quartz and any gems that follow her!" Blue shouted. Pearl fell to the floor, paralyzed by emotion. Tears streamed down her face; her body trembled. The Amethyst guards at the door dropped their weapons, clutched their chests, and began to sob.

Blue breathed heavy for a few moments, her fist clenched, and then she relaxed. The passion faded from her. "Oh, but the energy it takes, speaking with them... it is draining, Pearl."

"Uh, indeed, my Diamond," Pearl agreed softly, barely a whisper.

Yellow's latest planet appeared on the viewfinder; a tiny speck in the distance that grew quickly. It was an arid place, a planet of dirt and dust with little value. She knew Yellow was after the tiny moon that would be the solution to all their problems... but she had heard that line before. Blue waited as Yellow's ship came into view next, a massive arm, fingers outstretched, drifting in orbit around the planet. "Come, Pearl," Blue said as she stood, "Let's go see my facet-mate."

Blue waited for Pearl to finish issuing commands to the ship, then stood and put her hand on the smaller gem's back, enveloping her in a gesture of comforting maternalism. A large cerulean sphere encased the pair, and after a brief pause launched from the ship towards the planet.

### Arrival

Blue's palanquin descended from above, passing through an opening in the glass dome of Yellow's command center that closed immediately. An array of gems waited in formation as the dust settled, then was removed from the room by advanced filtration systems. It was no use letting debris from this planet contaminate the area.

Yellow rose and approached the palanquin as it open and Blue stepped forth. "Blue! Right on time! I am impressed. Did the silicates actually adhere to the agreed upon agenda?" She opened her arms wide and grasped Blue's forearms in a powerful embrace.

Blue noticed the distance between them, but was comforted by Yellow's tone. "Hardly!" she chuckled. "But I have come to expect uncertainty and chaos from them, and it was no harm to me to include time for that in the schedule." Yellow narrowed her eyes, but Blue brushed aside her disdain. "Oh, come now. If tolerating some of their emotional instability is all it takes to keep them out of our quadrant and prevent another gem from being shattered, it is worth the time and effort."

"I suppose you're right, in a way," Yellow agreed reluctantly. "With the time these silicates spend uselessly obsessing over minutiae, the geo-weapon will be well underway." Her gaze rose to the moon above them briefly. "And while I am eager to colonize this moon, the geo-weapon here is of paramount importance. It'll allow us to strike at the heart of silicate territory when the time is right."

"_If_ the time is right!" Blue insisted hotly. "I won't have your hasty need for action turn me into a coward and a liar! You'll bide your time and wait for the silicates to betray us, first!"

Yellow spread her hands in a gesture of appeasement. She felt confident in her assessment of the silicates, and saw no need in flaunting it. "Absolutely. My apologizes. I'm preparing for what I see as a likely outcome, and I have no desire to act before the silicates do."

Blue's temper lasted a moment more, her cheeks purple with it, but faded quickly at Yellow's acquiescence. The hotness of it came crashing down swiftly at the thought of how many gems had been lost in the conflict. The sudden change in emotion swept out from Blue like a wave. Several of the Amethyst guards straightened their backs at the sudden shift, glances darting back and forth, tears welling up in their eyes. "Oh, you're right, Yellow. We lost so many..."

Yellow witnessed it all with a detached resignation. She knew better than to engage Blue when she was like this. And she didn't particularly relish the idea of her otherwise orderly guards succumbing to Blue's ennui and being useless for cycles. There was urgent work to be started.

"Blue. Come with me. I want to show you what I found on this moon."

### The Moment

The Viewing Chamber showed the moon in great detail. They were hundreds of miles from its surface; it filled fully half of the room. Storm clouds drifted over vast oceans, swirling slowly, headed towards land. Mountains traced the outlines of continents, giving dimensionality to the otherwise flat sphere. Blue had recovered, her sorrow on hold while she viewed Yellow's newest ambition.

"While my current priority is the geo-weapon being built on this planet, I intend to fully devote my attention to this moon once progress is underway. The Emerald who scanned this planet originally also scanned this moon. Tell me what you see." Yellow's hands came together in front of her, palms inward, above the control device at the center of the chamber. She parted her hands slowly, and as she did, the image changed. The surface of the moon rolled away, then the mantle, until the translucent internalized scans of the moon were fully visible. Pale green lines traced outlines of deposits throughout the mantle and outer core, showing a chaotic pattern of shapes in incredible detail. The smaller inner core was an iron-nickel alloy that glowed a solid pale green in the projection.

Yellow watched Blue intently as she approached the projection, studying it. Her Pearl stood off to the side, staring at the floor, not even bothering to take in the spectacle. Yellow's Pearl stood next to her, gleefully looking between Blue and the projection of the moon. After a few moments, Blue spoke softly, "Are those Einium-253 deposits?" She glanced at Yellow, who nodded curtly. "How is this even possible? And at that scale? Einium-253 decays within a cycle. It's not naturally occurring. How is this possible?" she asked again with wonder in her voice, turning to Yellow.

Satisfied that she had sufficiently grabbed Blue's attention, she went into more detail. "I hypothesize that the formation of this moon was the result of a cataclysmic event. Likely two planetoids colliding. Einium was produced in large quantities, as was Fermium, Dubnium, and Hassium. The last three quickly decayed as the moon coalesced, as evidenced here." Yellow indicated soft dotted lines throughout the moon. "As you'll see in the scans, these oddly placed molten iron deposits rotate on a period that corresponds to the decay rate of Einium. The counter rotation of the moon's core interacts with the iron deposits and ensures that the alpha and beta radiation are directed back at the Einium deposit."

Yellow's Pearl glanced over at Blue's Pearl, clearly excited at the details, who responded with a deadpan look that indicated she didn't understand. Blue, however, grasped what Yellow was getting at. "It's a self-sustaining deposit. How long has this been here?"

"It appears to have stabilized a few million years after the moon was formed. It's been stable for the last 1.5 billion years."

"That is... that would mean..." Blue gazed at Yellow in amazement.

"That would be enough Einium to restore Homeworld," Yellow said softly. A silence settled between the two Diamonds as they stared at each other, Yellow grinning a broad grin, Blue's eyes wide as her mind ran through the possibilities.

The silence lasted for a beat, then two, before it was broken by a chime.

A view screen appeared over the center of the moon. A disheveled Aquamarine was grasping a handheld communication device, and the view screen shook slightly as she moved and trembled. There was chaos in the background.

"What is the meaning..." Yellow began hotly.

"My Diamond!" the distraught Aquamarine interrupted, addressing Blue. "My Eminence-s!" she continued, noticing Yellow. Her mouth opened and closed several times, incapable of producing words. Fear and panic marred her typically serene face.

The scene unfolded behind her. The Aquamarine was on Earth. There was fighting in the background.

"I demand an explanation!" shouted Yellow. Her voice shook the room and shook Aquamarine from her catatonic state.

"Pink Diamond has- has been sh-shattered!"

Another beat.

Yellow stared at Aquamarine. "_Whaat?!_" she bellowed. Her vision tunneled. Her chest clenched; her hands followed. Pink? Shattered? Nonsense. Diamonds couldn't be shattered. She shook her head.

"You're mistaken," Yellow said flatly.

The Aquamarine opened her mouth, then closed it, clearly at a loss for words.

"Now, if you're quite done wasting our time..." Yellow began, but she never got to finish. The Aquamarine lurched as a white-pink sword pierced her form from behind. Eyes wide, looking down to the blade protruding from her chest, her physical form dematerialized in a loud POOF. The communicator tumbled to the ground.

Another beat, and a gem picked up the communicator. A Rose Quartz. _The_ Rose Quartz. Pink locks curled down shoulders. One hand held the sword that had just discorporated the Aquamarine, the other held the communicator. The scene crystallized behind her - Pink's palanquin, toppled. Her court in disarray, Rubies fleeing in every direction. A grotesque fusion battling a Topaz solider. At the base of her throne... the shards of Pink Diamond's gem.

The anger hit Yellow in a wave. _Pink Diamond has been shattered._ Her skin burned hot. Someone had taken her youngest facet-mate from her. Someone has taken Pink from her. She glared at the view screen, at Rose Quartz, her world spinning. This was wrong. This wasn't supposed to happen. Diamonds weren't _shattered_.

Rose Quartz locked her gaze for a moment, then two, then ended the channel.

Yellow opened her mouth to protest, but fury came out instead. She screamed in anger and helplessness, unable to comprehend what she had just witnessed. _Pink Diamond has been shattered._ Hatred and rage consumed her in a way she had never experienced before. Her vision tunneled further.

Beside her, Blue stumbled, the news hitting her like a blow to the chest. Tears leapt unbidden from her eyes, a dark and sickly expanse forming in her chest. Her dear, beloved Pink... had been shattered. Gone. Ended. The loss tore at her like a huge monster, claws piercing her and slowly sinking deeper. She couldn't believe it. Pink was gone. She would never see her smiling face again; never hear her laugh; never watch her struggle to be as big and strong as Yellow. The tears flowed forth from her like a river and Blue wailed an unnatural wail. The chamber around her disappeared, replaced by an icy, crystalline prison. She felt the pain of profound emptiness. The anguish was torture. There was no escape. Grief encircled her like barbed wire and constricted, tearing at every single thread of emotion she felt.

The Pearls stared in wide-eyed terror as the scene unfolded. They backed up slowly, uncertain of what to do. Yellow glowed with such a powerful brilliance they couldn't look at her directly. Waves of heat rolled off her, their intensity melting and deforming the Viewing Chamber. The floor turned to liquid under Yellow's feet, bubbling as she slowly sank into it.

Blue sank to her knees, eyes wide and mouth agape, staring at nothing. Wounds appeared on her skin, deep lacerations forming without a visible source. Tears streamed forth from her eyes and were quickly vaporized by Yellow's radiance. Blue and Yellow Pearl were overwhelmed by the grief emanating from Blue Diamond - they endeavored to reach out, to comfort, to assist - but were paralyzed.

Yellow was consumed with fury. Her dearest Pink had been taken away from her. Yellow had done nothing to protect her. She had lost her. She was gone. The emptiness forming inside her was quickly filled with wrath. Yellow burned with an intense rage, hatred hardening her face. Rose Quartz had done this. Those bipeds on Earth had done this - they had turned gems against each other. Yellow pulsed with a searing desire for revenge. A sword of pure energy appeared in her hands, and she lashed out at the view screen where Rose Quartz had stood moments before. She destroyed the projector and the melting wall of the Viewing Chamber behind it with a powerful strike. Her throne from the command chamber above fell, and Yellow obliterated it with a fearsome blow from her weapon. She screamed in grief and rage. The glass panels of the dome above exploded as Yellow's voice echoed across the desert. A group of Amethyst guards burst through the molten doors of the Viewing Chamber and were instantly poofed by the power of Yellow's fury. The remainder retreated as the structure began to disintegrate around them.

She had experienced loss, and she would know vengeance.

The pain of Pink's shattering dug colder and deeper than anything Blue had experienced before. It hurt so much she couldn't move. Movies played on the facets of her crystalline prison. The moment Pink emerged from the Diamond Cave on Homeworld. White Diamond's incredibly precise plan for them all and Pink's unwavering desire to contradict it. The joy Pink felt when she was given her own Pearl. The festivities Pink organized as she tried to win the favor and attention of the increasingly distant White. Pink's palpable glee when she was given a colony - Earth. Her fascinating and frustrating curiosity toward the organics on Earth. All of those was... gone. Final. There was no going back to the way things were. Something eternal had ended, and there was no going back. A piece of what made Blue Blue was missing. It could never be replaced. Blue's life crumbled around her and she wept for it and for Pink.

Blue's prison encompassed her. Time had stopped, and her feelings of grief burned deeply into her. Then, a tiny speck of yellow light appeared. At first, she thought it was a cruel trick, but Yellow's hand reached through the illusory prison Blue's mind had created for her. Though barely a moment had passed, she had not moved in an eternity and for a moment struggled to remember how. Her hand rose shakily and grasped Yellow's outstretched, glowing forearm. Yellow tightened her grip and Blue's mental prison vanished. Before her stood a flaming goddess of fury. Her face was chiseled from immovable rock and her eyes shone with an intensity Blue had only ever seen before from White. Yellow pulled with enormous strength, bringing Blue to her feet. She pulled her close, gripping her by the waist. Tears still streamed down Blue's face, connecting with the fire that was Yellow's body and vaporizing. The pain of being this close to Yellow was immense, but it was nothing compared to the grief she endured. Yellow's fury filled the emptiness that was inside her and let her feel something different, something new. Blue placed her hand on Yellow's shoulder. Her eyes dropped to Yellow's gem, encased in bright flames in the center of her chest, and wept. Her gem, still intact. Pink's gem, shattered. The tears flowed with renewed strength, and Blue, broken, rested her forehead on Yellow's.

They began to fuse.

Their forms turned to white silhouettes; their shapes moved and twisted, slowly at first. Yellow's unyielding fury touched Blue's endless grief. The emotions probed, latched on, recognized each other, grew closer. They were each pain, uniquely expressed. They were not in competition. They were compatible. They could coexist, and in doing so, help carry the other. The white forms of Blue and Yellow swirled and began to merge. They grew larger - individual limbs merging - becoming indistinguishable. The command center crumbled and fell away as the fusion grew in size. Walls collapsed. Amethysts fled, and were buried. The ground cracked and shook as it bore increasing weight. The fusion towered nearly two hundred feet tall before it began to stabilize. Lines began to form. Limbs came into focus. Details emerged.

Green Diamond opened her eyes.

Forest green hair cascaded down Green's back, emerging from a darker two-horned helmet. Her skin was a soft mint and her irises shone a striking hue of jade. A dark green cord tied a sage tunic at her waist. Pale, hunter-green leggings ended in vibrant, hunter-green boots. She was encircled by a midnight green cloak so dark its hue could easily be mistaken for black. She held the edges of her cloak with gloves the color of evergreen pines.

Green gazed at the destruction below. It seemed minor - remote. It didn't compare to the emotions roiling inside of her, the anger and grief that was destroying her. She hid it with a fierce mask.

This was a creature that was sentient, not sane.

Pink Diamond had been murdered.

The bipeds had murdered her.

Green Diamond locked her mad gaze on the moon high above. She took a step to reposition herself, to orient herself to the moon above, and crushed a rocky escarpment with her boot. They had done this. They were responsible.

Green's form turned into a brilliant white silhouette; but this was not fusion, this was shape-shifting. She grew, her feet extending and digging into the ground. She grew, lowering her stance, crouching, as the ground quaked beneath her. She grew, her cloak catching atmospheric winds and blanketing large swaths of the terrain in shadow. She grew, as did the strain on her gems. The pain was immense, but it matched her emotional agony. She gritted her teeth, and grew. She pushed herself to her limits. She was the fusion of two Diamonds - she was the most powerful creature in the universe. Nothing compared to her. She was invincible. She was immortal.

And the bipeds had murdered Pink Diamond.

Green Diamond grew to an impossible size. Tectonic plates shifted under her weight. Storm systems buffeted her and were rebuffed. The pain she endured was cleansing, and it nearly broke her. For a few moments, she outshone the system's star, lighting up the near side of the moon as her enormous form took shape. Then, in an instant, she coalesced into Green Diamond again. Green Diamond, who dwarfed mountains and saddled continents. The pain burned so deeply that it narrowed her focus to a pinpoint. She only held one thing in her head:

The bipeds had murdered Pink Diamond.

Green leapt with a monumental slowness that only comes with the truly colossal. A shockwave tore through the skies as Green exited the atmosphere, scouring away dust and soil and exposing the mantle beneath. She rocketed through space, arm extended, fist clenched, eyes burning in anguish and vehemence. Green saw nothing but the moon as it approached - the agony of her form kept her focus narrow. A trail of tears floated through space as she sailed toward her target.

Green struck with such force that it blasted her fusion apart, sending Blue and Yellow spiraling back toward the planet. A great earthquake the likes of which its inhabitants had never seen shook the moon. Cities crumbled. Mountains collapsed. Tsunamis engulfed entire continents. The ground cracked and chasms miles deep opened throughout the moon's crust.

The shockwave of Green's impact reverberated through the mantle and the liquid outer core. The waves of energy connected on the far side of the moon at the point opposite Green's strike. The ground churned and roiled and disintegrated completely as the pressurized magma from the outer core burst through its rocky prison and exploded. Liquid metal spewed forth in a titanic geyser and was quickly ejected into space. There, without surrounding material to absorb its heat, it remained a liquid as it fountained outward in a shower of fire. Its former pressurized environment flung it a thousand miles into space... but gravity was strong, and its escape slowed. The spray halted, arced, spread, and reversed course, swinging back toward the moon in a sluggish but inevitable journey. The molten metal returned to the moon, raining a fiery inferno across the entire surface of the planetoid. That which wasn't destroyed in Green's initial strike was incinerated by the lava that rained down.

The moon burned.

### The Aftermath

Blue and Yellow crashed back into the planet, landing in the crater left by Green's departure. Nothing remained of the base Yellow had established in the arid desert. The two Diamonds lay there, entirely spent, aching to their very core. Blue felt an emptiness inside her; not a well of sadness that had overcome her at first, but an echoing void that let her observe the carnage above with detachment. The enormity of Pink's death and the magnitude of her attack on the moon sank in and sat with her grief. Nothing would be the same anymore - everything had changed, and there was no going back. At that moment, Blue wished she had a Sapphire's prescience; she would give anything to see a future where things returned to normal. But lying there, in the rocky crater she had created, watching the mayhem she had caused light up the sky like a giant torch, Blue saw no future. She saw no way back from where she was. Pink was gone, and nothing could change that. For once, Blue hurt so deeply that no tears came.

A creeping realization dawned on her... the bipeds had not actually shattered Pink Diamond. A gem had. Rose Quartz had. The bipeds were involved, yes - they had influenced Pink, but so had she and Yellow and White, and to a greater extent. To think that organics held any real sway over a Diamond was... charitable. The loss of the bipeds on this moon was unnecessary. They had done nothing wrong. They had been the focus of her - of Green's - anger, but they did not deserve it. Blue felt the icy pang of regret.

Blue turned ever so slightly to look at Yellow, and could feel her counterpart thinking loudly. She chose to give her privacy. They had... never fused before, in all the eons of existing together. She felt wonderment mixed with disgust. Fusion was beneath a Diamond's station. It was a tactical move designed to give an advantage in combat. As White had often repeated, it was a trait used by weaker gems to overcome their deficiencies - and Diamonds had no deficiencies. Any yet - Blue was intrigued. She knew Yellow's hard outer layer well, but as Green, she had had a view past it to the Diamond who hurt deeply at her core. It was a piece of herself that Yellow had never shared, and Blue wasn't sure it was entirely intentional. While Yellow often succumbed to anger, she never lost control, but in fusing with Blue, she had.

And... Green. Blue had never been a part of something so powerful and fierce and terrifying before. Planets trembled before her. Civilizations quaked in fear. And despite all her strength, Green had only kept the grief at bay for a moment. She had given Blue and Yellow a destructive outlet, but when the dust settled, Pink was still gone. Nothing had been fixed. It was a temporary reprieve, and the endless ocean of grief and sadness was waiting for Blue when she returned.

Blue turned to look at the burning moon as the tears slowly began to come again.

_Pearl_, Yellow said telepathically, not wanting to waste the energy on physical movement. Pearl didn't respond. _Oh, that's right_, thought Yellow. Pearl was gone. She'd have to get another. Yellow felt the aching sadness on the periphery of her consciousness, and quickly decided she did not want to indulge. _Ship_, concentrated Yellow, and after a moment a mental chirp indicated she had made contact. _Locate Holly Agate_.

_Yes, my Diamond?_ responded Holly with uncharacteristic timidness through the link with Yellow's ship. She must have witnessed what had just transpired.

_Assign an Emerald Cruiser to the system. When this mess settles down, I want a full report on the interior composition of the moon._

_Yes, my Diamond._

_Find me a Peridot,_ Yellow continued._ I need an engineer to evaluate this planet and come up with a new design. I expect a preliminary report in the next few cycles._

Holly sent a mental indication she acknowledged Yellow's orders.

_Send my palanquin to the surface._ Yellow thought of Blue and the destruction she and her had wrought while they were... together. _And appoint a Bismuth on Homeworld to construct a new palanquin for Blue Diamond._

Yellow frowned, the small motion bringing great pain to her face. _And, Holly Agate, I need a new Pearl. As does Blue. See to it that they are provisioned._

Holly acceded wordlessly to Yellow's orders. Yellow ended the communication.

Yellow stared at the moon. _That was exceedingly reckless_, she thought to herself. Her anger had blinded her to the mission at hand, and now she worried that the Einium deposits were in jeopardy. _Though_ _I suppose I don't have to worry about the biped infestation anymore_, Yellow thought smugly as the moon lit up the skies in a hot orange glow. She examined her injuries. They were extensive, but she would recover. It was going to take extra work to project strength and composure to her subjects, but she didn't dare show any weakness around them.

Blue, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. She had remained motionless and emotionless since they crashed into the planet, but Yellow could feel the sadness beginning to emanate from her again. Blue was a walking contradiction of a Diamond - hard and unyielding at times, yet soft and pliable at others. When hurt, she lashed out more strongly than Yellow felt appropriate, but most of the time coddled and accommodated her gems instead of expecting obedience. It was an inefficient way to rule. Yellow could feel the grief cascading off of her now, mixed with emotions more complicated than she cared to dissect. Blue had always let her emotions run her. But this was different... Pink had been shattered. Neither Yellow nor Blue had endured anything like this before. The loss was indescribable. It was like Yellow had just lost a piece of herself, and there was a gaping hole where it had been. Blue felt more deeply than she, and Yellow was gripped by a sudden panic - this might break her. They had never lost a Diamond before. They had never fused before. Yellow had felt the depth of Blue's grief for the brief time they had fused and she shuddered involuntarily. That was a gaping abyss she didn't want to look into. Emotions coursed out of Blue, washing over Yellow like waves. Buried underneath all the sadness and despair Yellow felt a strong current of something wild. It was a feeling Yellow had never felt before - never witnessed before - and it scared her. Diamonds were stoic and composed; even Blue, despite her emotional nature, bent toward reason over the long arc. But the wildness she sensed in Blue was a feral thing. A heightened sense of awareness with a visceral focus on the immediate. Yellow was clearly stronger than Blue and had nothing to fear from her facet-mate, but that emotion frightened even her.

Yellow turned her head slightly to look at Blue. Her counterpart stared hard at the burning moon, tears streaming soundlessly from her unblinking eyes to pool on the ground beneath her head. That feralness was buried beneath an ocean of sorrow, but even Blue's grief couldn't contain it. Yellow shuddered, and then began mentally preparing herself. When the time came... either Blue would overcome it, or she wouldn't.

**Author's Note:**

> In loving memory of Einar, born and died March 13, 2018.


End file.
